Gaylor / Taylor Swift Gay Theory

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About

Gaylor, also known as the Taylor Swift Gay Theory, is a conspiracy theory that American pop star Taylor Swift is secretly gay. Rumors about Swift possibly being lesbian or bisexual have been discussed on Tumblr since the mid-2010s, gathering viral traction in the early 2020s. Notable "Gaylor" relationships discussed by Gaylor believers are between Swift and Glee star Dianna Agron and Swift and model Karlie Kloss. In October 2023, Swift released her remastered 1989 Taylor's Version album alongside a prologue that appeared to criticize Gaylor believers for "sexualizing" her female friendships. This led to renewed discussions and renewed criticism of the Gaylor community online.

Background

Some early discussions about Taylor Swift supposedly being gay can be traced to 2013 when Swift performed at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show with Karlie Kloss. As seen in a friendship timeline documented by Teen Vogue,^[1] the two had publicly interacted online before the event. In 2014, a video^[2] of Swift and model Karlie Kloss at a concert was shared on Tumblr by people who believed that the clip showed Swift and Kloss exchanging a kiss (seen below).

Another example of Swift-Kloss (or "Kaylor" as it's called) shipping was posted by Tumblr^[3] user gayl0rswiftie on March 11th, 2017, analyzing Swift's lyrics to draw connected between her and Kloss (shown below). The use of the phrase "Gaylor" can be traced back to these early "Kaylor" shipping communities.

A detailed timeline of pivotal internet records of "Kaylor" theories was posted by Tumblr^[4] user @thoughts-reasons on December 31st, 2017 (seen below).

On April 6th, 2020, X^[6] user @slayvesful posted an X thread on "Gaylor moments," gathering over 5,000 likes on the initial post in the thread (seen below).

The subreddit /r/Gaylor_Swift was created on October 7th, 2022.^[5]

Developments

Criticism of Gaylor shippers began to mount in the early 2020s due to the community's perceived tendency to overanalyze Taylor Swift's moves. An example of this can be seen in a December 19th, 2021, post to the /r/popheadscirclejerk^[7] subreddit that gathered over,1000 upvotes in roughly two years (seen below).

On October 26th, 2023, the X^[8] account @PopBase reported that Swift had supposedly called out "Gaylor" believers for unnecessarily sexualizing her female relationships. The post gathered over 1,000 likes in four days (seen below).

On October 27th, X^[9] user @Horse_Jeans made a post documenting some reactions on /r/Gaylor_Swift, gathering over 5,000 likes in three days (seen below, left). Other Gaylor believers doubled down on their theories, with X^[10] user @AndySachs13 implying that Swift may have been queerbaiting her followers (seen below, right).

New York Times Gaylor Piece

On January 4th, 2024, The New York Times published an opinion editorial by Anna Marks titled "Look What We Made Taylor Swift Do." Clocking in at 5,000 words, the editorial laid out the supposed evidence for the Gaylor theory and reflected on the possible significance of Taylor Swift being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.^[11] Marks argued for the importance of "heroes" and positive gay role models for young people. In the article Marks said:

What if someone had already tried, at least once, to change the culture by becoming such a hero? What if, because our culture had yet to come to terms with homophobia, it wasn’t ready for her? What if that hero’s name was Taylor Alison Swift?

The editorial went on to describe Swift's Lover era in which she used a lot of rainbow imagery and made what some interpreted to be references to gay and lesbian history. The editorial also interprets specific lyrics, actions and "dropped hairpins" that it believes are hints given by Swift about her purported homosexual identity.

Taylor Swift's team pushed back against the article in the following days, with a close associate of the singer telling CNN that the piece was "invasive, untrue, and inappropriate."^[12] Chely Wright, a queer country singer mentioned in the article as a comparison to Swift, also spoke out against the editorial, receiving over 2,800 likes on January 7th for the post on X (seen below).^[13]

On TikTok, both supporters and opponents of Gaylor Theory commented on the issue. For example, TikToker @theswiftologist posted an anti-Gaylor take on January 6th, 2024, calling it a "conspiracy theory," condemning "the failing New York Times" and receiving over 4,000 likes and nearly 49,000 views in two days (seen below, left).^[14]

On the other side, TikToker @simpofthesapphics summarized the article and promoted it as a "comprehensive, legitimizing" essay about Gaylor Theory and praised the Times as the "paper of record" in a TikTok post on January 5th, receiving over 66,000 views and 2,500 likes in three days (seen below, right).^[15] @simpofthesapphics also opined that @theeswiftologist "was shaking in his motherf--king boots on his Twitter account this morning" over the essay's comprehensiveness.

Others expressed opinions about the coverage of the Gaylor phenomenon and the passion of Gaylor theorists. For example, on January 6th, 2024, X user @theluckywill posted about the hostility many Gaylors directed at CNN following the publication of the story about a Swift associate objecting to the theory, receiving over 5,400 likes in two days (seen below, left).^[16]

Similarly, X user @glorstruggles responded to a passionate fan's insistence about Taylor Swift's sexuality, also on January 6th, receiving over 9,100 likes in two days (seen below, right).^[17]